


A Handful of Dog

by DangersUntoldHardshipsUnnumbered



Series: Several General Danvers AUs in Tiny Hors D'oeuvre Form [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-07 04:52:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19202266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DangersUntoldHardshipsUnnumbered/pseuds/DangersUntoldHardshipsUnnumbered
Summary: Dog trainer AU, in which Alex is a dog trainer at a charity that pairs trained rescue dogs with veterans with PTSD. Astra is an Afghanistan veteran who hasn't slept a proper night in years.





	A Handful of Dog

Astra lingered near Kara’s banged-up Dodge Dart, staring at the low-slung log cabin-like building on the other side of the parking lot. Beyond the chainlink fence behind it, she saw the shapes of various dogs and their trainers, frolicking, being disciplined, treated, stroked. She heard a lot of chatter and yapping, even from this distance.

“Come on, Aunt Astra. I’m telling you, you’re not going to regret it.”

She already did. But she also was running out of choices. She had seen blood and fire in Afghanistan that wouldn’t let her sleep through the night anymore, and she was in a permanent state of rattled exhaustion. Even Xanax wasn’t doing it, and her doctors didn’t want to prescribe it anymore anyway because they were concerned about her overdosing.

Kara took her by the elbow. “Come on. Alex already has someone picked out for you.”

Astra reluctantly followed her niece toward the building. “Who’s Alex again?”

“My sorority sister. She’s the one who got me into volunteering here in the first place.”

Astra was clenching and unclenching her right hand, a calming trick that she had learned in distress management therapy. She was leaving white fingerprint marks on her own palm. She followed Kara through the building, and into the bright, sunny yard.A small beagle came bounding across the grass toward them. Behind the beagle was a slender young woman with dark eyes and a warm laugh who was calling to the little black and white beagle, “Krypto! Hey, Krypto, slow down, buddy!” 

She knelt down and whistled, and the beagle stopped, twitched his little ear up, and then turned around and trotted back to the trainer.

“Hi Alex!” Kara called.

The trainer grinned at them. “Hey, sis.”She picked up Krypto in her arms and strode toward them. She radiated a quiet kindness.Astra was caught looking dumbly at the woman and dog for a moment.

“No little dogs,” she said to Kara under her breath. “No little yappy dogs.”

“Alex is never wrong,” Kara said confidently. She remained planted where they stood in the shadow of the cabin’s back porch.

When Alex drew nearer, Kara introduced them. “Alex, this is my aunt Astra. Astra, this is my sorority sister, Alex Danvers.”

“I’d shake your hand, but I’ve got a handful of dog at the moment,” Alex said, smiling at her.

Astra couldn’t remember the last time someone smiled at her so much. And it seemed genuine. No pity, no fake cheer like the VA caseworkers. “I see that, Miss Danvers.”

Alex held the little beagle, who was calmly inspecting Astra from his cozy perch against Alex’s chest. “Captain Danvers, actually."

Astra raised an eyebrow. "Army?"

Alex shook her head. "Air Force. Now I’ve been told,” Alex said, “that you aren’t fond of little dogs, but I think you and Krypto should take a moment and get to know each other.”

Astra frowned a little. Kara had told Alex her preferences and she was trying to pair her with this little dog anyway?

Kara gestured to a rocking wooden bench on the porch.“Sit down, please.” Astra sat.

“He didn’t seem very docile,” she commented.

Alex set Krypto down and let him trip lightly up the wooden steps of the porch.“He picked you out,” she said with a grin. “He saw you coming and knew you were his.”

Astra gave her a skeptical look, but the beagle presented himself at her feet, looking up at her with pleasant, inquisitive eyes.

“I’ve been training him myself for a long time,” Alex went on, following the dog up the steps. “He’s special. He’s full of love. I was going to keep him for myself, but Kara said you needed a really special animal.”

Astra balked. “I can’t take a dog meant for yourself.”

Alex shook her head. She knelt down and scratched behind the dog’s ear.“What do you think, Krypto? Do you like Astra?”

Krypto considered Astra for a moment, then jumped with unexpected grace onto the wooden bench, and after a moment of adjusting himself to the right position, he laid his head on Astra’s lap. He was warm, and the top of his head was silky.She ran her hand over it, despite herself. He nuzzled into her lap further.

“See?” Alex said. “He’s picking you.”

Astra’s eyes found Alex’s. They were still warm, caring, and happy to see the dog finding the wounded warrior he belonged with. She could also see, though, that Alex was truly fond of the dog, and would miss him if Astra took him home.

He was handsome, for a little dog. Astra had always thought of herself as more of a mastiff type of person, or at least something with a little more heft than a beagle. But she and the dog, despite her expactations, had bonded almost instantly. She found herself scratching behind his ears. “You’re a friendly guy, aren’t you?” she was muttering to him.Her niece smiled.

Astra found herself asking next, “So, do you train me on how to work with him?”

“Oh yes.”Alex knelt down in front of the bench, joining Astra in stroking Krypto’s ears and back.“Very good boy,” she whispered.

“Where did he come from?” Astra asked.

“He was a rescue.”She smiled up at Astra. “I rescued him, and now he rescues you. That’s how it works.”She looked back at the beagle. 

Astra felt suddenly wanton. “Alright. I’ll take him. But you have to come visit him. I think he’ll miss you too much.”

Alex’s graceful brows drew together in a quizzical look.

“I think he’ll want to see you again.”

She could be wrong, but Astra thought she saw the younger woman flush a little at this. Alex looked up at her. “I think there are rules, but…”Her hand brushed Astra’s casually as she gave Krypto an affection stroke along his back. “…I’d like that.”

The dog settled into Astra’s lap.Alex found a sticky note, and wrote her number on it.Astra suspected that she just might sleep that night after all.


End file.
